I've always been an open and honest person and have sometimes gone overboard trying to be sure others knew everything that might would be construed as dishonest if they found out later vs right away. Even though I've always been honest for the most part, there has, on occasion, been times when I've not completely disclosed something or have written something that could be viewed as somewhat of an exaggeration of the truth and today God helped me to see more clearly my error in being even slightly dishonest.
About seven months ago, I interviewed for my current job. During the interviews, I tried to be sure I was completely honest about my lack of knowledge and skills in certain and specific software. I also tried to be completely honest about my lack of experience in several areas that were part of the job description. From the first interview, I got the impression that the interviewers understood my level of experience and knowledge, therefore, I felt comfortable with the interview questions and thought that it was understood that I would need to be trained in some areas. Additionally, I received the impression that I would be working with the Instructional Designer and that he would be able to help train me or get the training for me that I needed.
When I was called for the second interview, I was surprised to find that none of the first interviewers were to be included in the second interview. It seemed somewhat disconnected from the first interview, but I assumed I didn't need to restate anything in particular from the first interview, except when asked for something specific.
Two weeks into the new job and I recognized that there had been a mistake made, I realized that they had hired the wrong person and even said the same to my boss. She, on the other hand, did not recognize the mis-match yet and proceeded to give me the impression that everyone would "pull together" and help me acclimate to the new position. Week after week went by and I became even more distressed with the whole mis-match, finding out too late that there wouldn't be any training provided and that they had expected me to be able to "jump-in" and "take off" on my own immediately, without building a foundation for such a jump. I also found out too late that they wouldn't be providing any of the tools that I felt were necessary for the position.
To say the least, the position became extremely stressful and my confidence was worn down to almost nothing over the weeks/months of not making any progress towards a resolution of the discrepancy between the employer expectation and my expectations as the employee.
Today, I had an interview with another place for a position that I didn't think I was qualified for and had been surprised that they had even called me for an interview. Shortly after the interview started, I realized that there wasn't any way I had the qualifications, knowledge, and experience they were looking for, so I let the interviewers know that and we ended the interview. Just before we ended the interview, I asked the interviewer what had made them think I might be qualified for the position? He said that my mention of a Web content management application called Drupal in my cover letter made them think I might be qualified.
On the way home from the interview, I recognized that I shouldn't have included that "Drupal" comment within my cover letter and that I need to be more careful about being fully honest and fact-based when writing up my resume and cover letter. Additionally, I need to be more careful about not embellishing the facts to make myself "look good" or to try to improve my chances at a job. I didn't seek to embellish or be dishonest in any way, but mentioning Drupal based upon expectations that I was going to get the chance to use it and become more familiar with it prior to any possible interview, but not based upon the fact that I hadn't gotten the opportunity yet at the time I wrote the cover letter, was in fact an embellishment of the truth and/or dishonest declaration. Lesson learned and forgiveness asked of God.
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